Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine Fishing Report 7-5-2012

Plenty of Bait for the Striper Buffet

Many are bemoaning the fact that obtaining bait is a lot easier than finding something willing to eat it. But that is generally the reality of fishing for striped bass in the summer when most of the time most linesiders are neutral, in deeper water or both. But with pogies aplenty, no shortage of squid and a surge of sea herring, our watery realm could be like a post-fourth of July fireworks salvo just needing a spark to combust.

South Shore

Plymouth just could be the exception to the South Shore summer slumber. According to Dave from The Fisherman’s Outfitter in Plymouth, there is no shortage of stripers around. Hotter locations for shore fishermen have been Long Beach, the mouth of the Eel River, the Plymouth Public Pier and the jetty by the Leo F. DeMarsh Boat Ramp. Boaters will do better by the perennially reliable Gurnet and Saquish Rip. There are pogies in Duxbury Bay and hickory shad, and both slab baits are being live lined in order to catch the biggest cows around. If you’re confused about the myriad of methods of live lining, check out the EZ Bait Bridle segment in July’s issue of OTW. In the Tales & Scales section you’ll learn a quick, convenient method for rigging livies, especially when it comes to big baits such as pogies, which present a challenge to set the hook so that it will readily gain purchase. If, like many, you have no clues as to the blues, you’ll find some just outside of the Plymouth Power Plant.

Pete from Belsan’s is suggesting to many of his patrons that they purchase live eels and begin slinging the serpents come sun down if they want to improve their cow chances. Good choices to do this are at the mouth of the North River, especially The Spit, and among the rocky structure of Egypt Beach and The Glades. Mackerel, while scarcer than a week ago, are still available and make for one of the most desired baits. For a chance at a 30-pounder, a live mackerel by Minot’s Light remains one of the better bets. But if the bass have you totally bugged and you’re looking for a more consistent bite, then consider flounder. In spite of water temps flirting with the 70 degree mark this resurgent staple is still pleasing! Bob Pronk from Green Harbor B&T told me that he is flying through sea worms as patrons can’t get enough of those flounder in Green Harbor. In some cases the fishing is so easy boaters are bailing the blackbacks right from their moored boats! The flounder bite is still solid along the shore of Scituate as well.

 

The South Shore is not immune to “squid hysteria” either as they can be found off the Plymouth Public Pier as well as countless other locations, especially well lit piers and docks at night. A niche, yet cherished fishery that takes place on The Cape and other southern locations is brown or sandbar shark fishing at night from beaches. These very same sharks can be caught from the sands of Duxbury Beach! And with water temperatures as such, I would not be surprised if this was not going to be a better than normal year. Obviously you’ll need stout gear and the bait of choice for the brownies is a live or fresh-dead eel. Should you catch one of these sharks which can grow to over 100-pounds just make sure you watch your extremities, they are packing the same signature choppers that the rest of the genus possesses. And most importantly, you must release these threatened sharks upon catch.

 

Greater Boston

After hearing first hand accounts from some of the better bass fishermen in Boston, it looks as though the dog in the dog days of summer has morphed into a rabid werewolf. While the area oozes with bait, there are few bass feeding on them. Few feelings are as frustrating as live lining a pogy and having no need to dip into the live well for another, but that is the reality.  Even at nighttime, while there are more bass present they are feeding only intermittently. The good news, however, is there are more pogies present then we have seen in years and while I hate to look that far ahead, we are setting up for one heck of a fall run. The hottest striper spot at the moment has been the North Channel where mid-20-inch fish are chasing sea herring. The bite hasn’t even been happening until mid-morning so you can sleep in a bit. An option to consider is to jig up some mackerel which have been recently caught off Rainsford Island, Point Allerton,  The Brewster’s, Graves Light and off Nahant and troll them around the outer islands and noted ledge locations off Hull such as Thieves Ledge. Another alternative is to chunk and chum like crazy. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on this, Captain Jason Colby called me and told me he had just put a 25-pounder into the Little Sister on a clam by Rainsford Island.

 

But for consistency the game remains one of flounder and squid. The cephalopod crew, which seems to be growing daily, can be spotted from Nut Island to the Hull Piers to Castle Island and the twinkling of their boats can be observed come nightfall scattered throughout the Quincy/Hull area as they zero in on this historic bounty of squid.  And while the calendar may be telling you that the winter flounder fishery is over, the few that are fishing for them will tell you differently. If you’re usual spots are barren it is not because the fish have moved off, it’s most likely because the resident resource has been depleted. Captain Jason Colby continues to put charters into flounder close to 20” long in 10 -15 feet of water. The key is to find a location that hasn’t been pounded, if you find some new tracks of mud or sand surrounded by kelp, rocks and other varied bottom that is worth a try – there might be an isolated school of big flatties that are just waiting to be caught.

 

For ground fishing on a grander scale, sail out to about 250 feet of water east of Stellwagen Bank; cod and their cousins have finally woken up. Russ Eastman of Monahan Marine and friend, Tommy Golden, crushed cod, haddock and even some impressive wolfish, the latter of which must be immediately released since the stock is now protected by law.

 

North Shore

The cool, deep water off the North Shore in some cases is a different story then Boston. A few days ago I was victimized by the surfcasters law, which states that blitzing fish will usually be just out of casting range. There were three schools of pogies within view and at least one was besieged by bass! According to Peter from Fin and Feather in Essex there is no shortage of pogies in Ipswich Bay and there are bass and even bluefish shadowing them. Surf and boat guys have been doing well with topwater lures at first light from Cranes Beach, the killer lures have been the Micah Dean spooks and sand eels. Big blues have been on a tear off Halibut Point in Rockport; the toothies are being taken on trollers such as CD18 Rapalas as well as live mackerel and pogies.

 

Kay from Surfland said that not surprisingly the only consistent bass fishing is happening from dusk to dawn. Joppa flats, Plum Island Beach and live eels are the winning hat trick. There even is a flounder flurry with word of some unusual flatties being taken such as windowpane flounder as well as more typical winter flounder. The mouth of the Merrimack is a safe bet for flounder as well as mackerel. In fact according to Bob Elm Street B&T in Salisbury, this place is jammed with mackerel. Some are livelining the macks on site and others are doing well by trolling them on Salisbury Beach for stripers as well as the occasional bluefish.

 

New Hampshire and Southern Maine

Richard Wolfe of Sea Wolfe Fishing Tackle and friends hopped aboard Al Gaurons in Hampton for a Super Marathon outing east of Stellwagen, and the accounts and pictures I saw were enough to incite envy. They caught market sized cod, haddock, pollock of over 30 pounds and a mixed bag of hake, cusk and wolfish. Sea Wolfe Norwegians, Cod Killahs and Sea Wolfe bait rigs were the right recipe for the groundfish grab bag. The Piscataqua River is loaded with squid which are being taken from most lit piers, docks and bridges in the area. Stripers are often pursuing the squid; another bait option is harbor pollock and mackerel by the 2KR Can, the former which is becoming more numerous than the latter. Schoolie bass can be seem blitzing on bait in Great Bay, but be careful of soft plastics; there is now a bluefish presence.

 

Peter from Saco Bay told me that big mackerel have attracted big bluefish in the bay. Shore guys are chunking mackerel and catching stripers up to 43” long from the beaches of Yarmouth, Kennebunk, Wells and Old Orchard. The Royal River is fishing well at the mouth on an outgoing tide with bucktail jigs spiced with a sliver of mackerel skin. Tourists are gasping at some incredibly big bass cruising under the lights off the Old Orchard Beach Pier. There are plenty of mackerel and sea herring out at Tanta’s but the cod bite is a tough one; possibly because the cod are all sated from all that bait.

 

Best Bets

Plymouth appears to be the place on the South Shore for stripers and you’ll find them everywhere from Plymouth Public Pier out to the Gurnet. Scituate is in a typical slow summer striper pattern but the flounder fishing in Scituate Harbor and off the beaches of Egypt and Peggotty fills the void nicely. In the Boston area the blackback flounder and squid fishing shows no signs of abating and they’re still in shallow water among varied bottom such as what you’ll find off Slate, Bumpkin and Grape Islands. While we are waiting for bass to find all those pogies, you can find schoolies chasing sea herring by the North Channel area and maybe chum up a cow on clams from Rainsford Island. On the North Shore the pogies in Ipswich Bay are being blasted by blues off Halibut Point in Rockport and stripers off Cranes Beach. North of the border, they’re nearly ecstatic with the ink of the squid in the Piscataqua River and the bass bite is electric in the glow of the dock lights at Old Orchard Pier.